The higher power can literally be anything. I've heard some interesting takes on that. I've been to countless NA meeting and quite a few AA as well as an in patient program that utilized the twelve steps.
One (dumb) bitch said her higher power was the chair she sits in because it holds her up and is reliable.
Personally I have always been agnostic. I've read the bible, debated religion ad nauseum.. have tried out Buddhism.. but in the end I cannot for certain know if a god exists. Until I experience some sort of proof of a gods existence, I cannot put my faith into it.
I always debate this shit with my best friend. He worries that I'm not going to go to heaven because I don't believe in God.. n when I ask why he DOES believe, he said because he has faith.. I say it's BLIND faith as he has no evidence.
So I would tell your brother not to worry too much about the higher power thing. If he wants to he can just ignore that aspect of the program. They are generally just good ways to live and act, regardless of religious affiliation.
Same with the bible, whether you believe or not, Jesus did exist and he was a very good person.. probably the best person that ever lived. His teachings are nice and if everybody followed them the world would be a better place.
Maybe some time down the line he will have an epiphany or a religious experience that will make him believe.. until then I would just ignore the Higher Power thing.
Really good post. He's only been to this thing twice and still hasn't figured out exactly how it's gonna work, from what I can tell. The AA/NA thing is separate from this program too; something he has to find on his own. His attitude worries me though. He's looking for reasons to think the entire thing is bullshit, and today when he was angry and shouting he said he might just go serve the jail sentence instead of putting up with the program. Can't say I blame him honestly; it's pretty intense. 2 and a half hours of this group class thing 4 times a week, random UAs/BAs, and plus he needs to find 3 (?) 12 step programs outside of all this.
Maybe inpatient would be easier.
Hopefully he'll find some way to make the steps work for him. I'd rather him be worshiping chairs than slowly killing himself with drugs, tbh.
Faith in God wouldn't be nearly as meaningful if it weren't blind, imo. But I'm not big into the monotheism stuff either. Christianity is a great religion, but it's certainly not for everyone.
Religion and rationality exist outside of each other (again, just my opinion), and this isn't to say that religion is bullshit because it's irrational. Irrationality gets a bad rap these days, in the West. We're not 100% logical creatures existing for efficiency and measurable knowledge. There's a deep fascination and inherent connection with the unknowable residing within each of us, and to ignore that in favor of cold rationality really seems to miss the point of this whole existence thing. imo.
Not that I'm accusing anyone of living wrongly or anything. Many atheists even are spiritual. And we're all going to get to where we're going, so there's no need for harsh judgements or whatever.
The religious approach is bound to fail a nonreligious person. The main way around it that I can think of is: 1) You have some power over the universe 2) Allowing the universe to have power over you prevents you from doing what you want.
It's like how Buddhists give up possessions because they recognize that it is their possessions that rule over them, not visa versa.
have tried out Buddhism.. but in the end I cannot for certain know if a god exists.
You exist. Reciprocal causality.
I'm probably not understanding you, but that seems in direct conflict with what the program wants. Allowing the universe to have power over you, and thus giving it power to prevent you from doing what you want seems like a bad thing. Or do you mean that the thing you want to do is harmful drugs?
